Notice Me
by FaerieGrrl
Summary: Giving a gift to Berry for the stupid 'Secret Santa' Glee assignment was not supposed to make him notice her more, but what Puck saw disturbed him greatly. Fluff first, angst later. T for Puck's language and for self-hurt later. Maybe M in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1: Secret Santa

**AN: I do not own any part of Glee or its profits. All I own is my brain and any plotline or original character concoted in it. And, if I owned Glee, there would be many, many, many more scenes featuring a shirtless Mark Salling.**

Puck shoved the small box at Rachel, his jaw set stubbornly. "Here, I'm your secret Santa."

Rachel's brown eyes lit up in surprise. "You?" she questioned incredulously. "Since when do you partake in Christian ceremony, much less a ceremony that is an academic requirement? I would have thought you would take pleasure in ignoring both this non-Jewish holiday and a school activity."

Puck just looked at her, nonplussed. "Seriously, Berry? You can't just take the damn present and say thank you?" He pushed the festively wrapped box further into Rachel's grip before he turned on his heel, sitting as far across the choir room as possible.

Rachel shrugged to herself as she watched him almost run away from her, but she excitedly tore into the gold paper, smiling at the anticipation of opening her first gift of the season. When she reached the plain white box, she paused then gently, almost reverently, pried open the lid. She gasped at the beautiful gold charm and bracelet, her face breaking into an ecstatic grin as she gently lifted it from the box. She clasped the bracelet around her wrist, enchanted with the way it sparkled against her olive skin.

Purposefully looking across the room at Puck, she smiled brightly at him, her deep brown eyes sparkling happily. _Thank you,_ she mouthed across the crowded room, and blushed as he winked at her, smirking before he turned away.

As she gave Brittany her own gift, Rachel couldn't stop smiling and glancing at the simple charm on her wrist, so much so that even the simple Cheerio could understand the diva's mood. "Who gave you the pretty star, Rachel?" asked the blonde sweetly.

Rachel just blushed and changed the subject, unobservant of the fact that Puck was watching her out of the corner of his eyes as he joked around with Mike and Matt and was smiling almost wider than she was.

~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*

"How did you know to get me a gold star?"

Puck paused, startled at the petite brunette's voice. Slamming his locker closed, he threw a towel over his damp Mohawk as he turned towards her. "You do realize this is the boy's locker room, right Berry?"

Ignoring his sexy smirk and the way his eyes lingered on her body, Rachel huffed softly. "Of course I realize that, Noah. I can read exceptionally well in English, French, and Spanish, and I read the sign. You didn't answer my question."

He sighed, rubbing the towel over his head and face to give him a moment before answering. "Everyone in the fucking world knows that gold stars are 'your thing,'" he grumbled, using air quotes. "Don't make a big thing of it. I just saw it and got it to get done with the damn gift thing. Get over it."

Even though his voice was gruff, Rachel wasn't put off. "I still appreciate it, Noah. I was very touched that you got me such a nice gift."

Puck rolled his eyes to show the girl exactly how unaffected he was by her words, but a grin was threatening to break out on his lips at the same time. "Whatever, Berry. Now get out of here before a teacher sees you and you ruin that perfect attendance record by getting suspended."

Rachel gave him a strange look before she smiled and turned slowly towards the door. As she opened the door, she looked back once more. "I didn't know you noticed that I had perfect attendance, Noah," she murmured softly before letting the door bang shut behind her.

Puck stared blankly at the door. "Shit!" A resounding bang echoed through the locker room when he slammed his fist into a locker.

When Rachel finally collapsed onto her bed that night, she was thoroughly exhausted from going to school, training on her elliptical, practicing both her vocals and a new dance routine, and completing her homework, but before falling asleep, she grabbed her pink cell off her bedside table and flipped it open. Not giving herself a chance to change her mind, she quickly tapped in a text and sent it. Rolling back onto her side, she was asleep in seconds, her small hand wrapped around her new gold star.

_Good night, Noah. Sleep well._ The text kept Puck awake much longer than he would ever admit, but when he fell asleep, his dreams were filled with an olive-skinned brunette with chocolate-colored eyes and a gold charm on her wrist.

**AN: Ok guys, this is my first Glee fanfic as well as my first multi-chapter fic. I would really appreciate any reviews or constructive comments or criticism. Right now, the story might seem a little fluffy, but I'm trying to set up the rest of the storyline, so please bear with me. Thanks so much! 3 - Morgan**


	2. Chapter 2: Shopping Spree

**AN: I do not own any part of Glee. Only this storyline and any original ideas in it belong to me. The rest of the Glee universe belongs to the wonderful creators and producers who have given us a new creative outlet. :) (Plus, if i owned Glee, Puckleberry would still be canon, not just my fantasy.)**

The final Glee practice before Christmas vacation was uneventful other than Britney and Mike's showcasing of their revamped choreography for _Light My Candle_ from _Rent_. Puck and Rachel had gone back to ignoring each other – well, mostly – or at least some anyways. But, Rachel couldn't seem to keep her eyes from straying to Puck as he played the guitar for Brit and Mike. And Puck couldn't help but notice the way Berry's hair caught in the light or how her lips formed perfectly around her words whether she was singing or just talking.

Needless to say, it was a long practice.

The first week of Christmas break was uneventful for Puck. He stayed home and baby sat his little sister Daniella or he went to parties around town. He definitely didn't spend time thinking about Berry and the way she looked in those short skirts of hers. When he got too bored, he even called Santana to have some fun. Everything was perfectly normal for the Puckarone – at least that's what he kept telling himself.

Rachel, on the other hand, didn't have a spare minute the first week of vacation. Though she was Jewish, she participated in every type of artistic production that she could in her free time, including a Christmas pageant at the Community Center, and then spent time doing community service projects as well as made time for her normal practice times and study schedule. By the time the second weekend of break rolled around, she was exhausted and was forced to take some leisure time by her African-American father, Benjamin.

"But, Daddy, I have to help Mrs. Sullivan with her indoor plants. And, I promised Mr. Rupert's little boy Ryan that I would teach him some more piano this afternoon – plus I still have 3 pans of brownies and a batch of cookies to bake for the Community Center's Bake Sale next week."

Benjamin Berry smiled placatingly at his beautiful daughter. "I'm sure you can put off all of that for one afternoon, Rachel. I'll even call and tell everyone why you won't be participating in your scheduled activities today, and I'll start on those brownies while you're gone." Pressing two crisp hundred dollar bills into her hand, he pushed Rachel gently out the door. "Go buy yourself an outfit for the Glee Christmas party. If you need more money, you can use the emergency credit card as long as you let me know how much you spend."

Rachel tried to protest again but found her front door shut in her face. "Daddy!" she called exasperatedly through the wood. Benjamin's deep laughter and his retreating footsteps were her only answer. Huffing, she climbed into her green bug, taking a minute to warm up. Looking at the wad of money crumpled in her hand, a smile began to grow on Rachel's lips. With a shrug she put the car into reverse and started towards the mall.

*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.

Puck grimaced as he surveyed his surroundings with distaste. The mall was never one of his favorite places, but during Christmas time, it was pure torture for him to be trapped there with all the crazy shoppers and manic shop attendants. Rolling his shoulders, Puck began shoving his way through the shoppers, headed towards the chain toystore in the middle of the mall.

After an hour, he had just about given up on finding something suitable for his sister and hadn't even had time to start looking for his mother. When his stomach rumbled, Puck decided it was time for a break anyways and started towards the food court, once again having to shove through the crazy throngs of people. Just as he reached the front of the line for _Xiung Lee's Cuisine_, Puck heard a familiar voice raised in annoyance.

"Get away from me, you Neanderthal!" _Yep_, thought Puck to himself, _definitely Berry_.

Scanning the crowd for the owner of the voice, Puck found Karofsky and one of his boys standing next to the petite brunette. Karofsky kept moving closer to Berry, making the girl back farther and farther away until her back was pressed against the wall. Amazingly, no one was stopping to help her get away from the jocks though she was obviously distressed. Rolling his shoulders to loosen them up for the brawl that was obviously coming, Puck gave up his place in line, striding angrily towards the three.

*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.

Rachel couldn't believe that she was being accosted at the mall in broad daylight and no one was stopping to help her. The two jocks had seen her in Macy's looking at formal dresses and had harassed her until she left without even buying anything. Then, they followed her all the way to the food court, frustrating her enough that she finally confronted them.

"You can't just torture me in school? You know you could actually end up in jail for harassing me like this in public, right Karofsky? My gay fathers are very influential lawyers and can lodge a complaint with the ACLU if this doesn't stop!" Rachel's voice was strong, but her back was now pressed against the wall and her hands were trembling slightly as the two bull-like boys edged closer.

A tan hand suddenly appeared on Karofsky's shoulder. "I think the lady wants you to back off, man." Puck's voice was light, but there was a steely glint in his eye that Rachel recognized as being a very bad thing.

Karofsky's friend laughed. "Naw, dude. She definitely wants us. You should've seen her in Macy's earlier."

Puck's face eased into a threatening show of teeth. "Really? Cause that's really not what it sounded like a minute ago." Turning to the subject of their conversation he questioned gruffly, "Rachel, are these boys bothering you?"

Rachel nodded her head rapidly. "Yes, very much so!"

Puck nodded his head decisively in response. "See, boys. Doesn't sound like she wants you around so why don't ya'll just go on your way and we'll go on ours?"

Karofsky grimaced, shrugging out of Puck's grip. "Dude, what business is it of yours? You don't even like the freak!"

Puck noticed the way Rachel flinched at the word freak, but he didn't comment. Instead he crowded in between the other jocks and the petite soprano. Stepping into Karofsky's personal space, Puck flashed his teeth again before threatening softly, "All the glee kids are mine – so back off or else."

Karofsky paled considerably but muttered "Whatever" before he slunk off, his friend close behind.

"You ok, Midget?" Puck asked once the bullies were gone.

Rachel looked at him wonderingly, tucking her still trembling hands into the pockets of her white cardigan to hide them. "Yes, I'm fine." She paused, searching for words. "Not that I'm not thankful, but-" She paused again, searching his eyes for an answer to what had just happened. "Why did you help me?"

Puck shrugged, thrusting his hands into his Letterman's jacket pockets uncomfortably. "I'unno," he muttered gruffly. Turning away, he seemed to debate with himself before he added, "You eaten yet?"

Rachel looked at him for a minute, still completely confused, but still, she shrugged. "No. Do you want to get something?"

Puck just nodded, jerking his head back towards _Xiung Lee's_.

As they ate, Rachel became more verbose until she was talking his ear off as usual, but at the end of the meal, she relapsed into silence.

"What are you thinking, Berry?" Puck's question broke the silence but did nothing to avert the awkward tension hanging in the air.

"Um, I-" Voice breaking, Rachel cleared her throat and took a deep breath before attempting to speak again. "I still don't understand why you helped me earlier, but I really appreciate it, Noah." Staring determinedly into her lap, Rachel's cheeks turned red as she continued softly, "No one ever stands up for me. I-I can't tell you how much it meant to me."

Puck just sat across from her, at a loss for words until he saw a tear slip down the end of her nose and drop onto her jean-clad thigh. "Shit, Ber-Rachel," he groaned, running a hand through his Mohawk. "I'm sorry. I mean I should've not done all that shit before, and I should've stopped the stuff the other guys did. I didn't realize-" he trailed off as he realized that he had realized. Ever since that week they had dated at the beginning of last year and he had been slushied, he had known exactly what she felt like, especially after the Babygate scandle broke. Clenching his fist, he muttered again, "I'm just - I'm sorry."

She looked up at him with wide, wet brown eyes. "No – I didn't want to make you feel bad, Noah. I just – I needed to let you know what it meant to me for you to do that." She groped for a napkin for a moment, her eyes locked on his til a flash of gold caught his eye as she wiped the tears from her cheeks.

His eyes widened at the realization that she was still wearing the bracelet. Rolling his shoulders, as per his habit, he shrugged it off and offered her a smile, small but genuine unlike his usual smirk. "Don't worry about it, Berry."

As they stood up, he slung an arm around the tiny brunette's shoulders. "Look, I know that we've never been friends or anything. I mean besides the whole five minutes we were dating or whatever last year, we've never hung out, even in temple. But, maybe we can try." His words hung in the air for a few heart-stopping moments before a huge smile broke out on Rachel's tear-stained face.

"I'd like that, Noah."

**AN: Hi again guys, I hope you like the story so far. Right now, it's mainly fluff, but I have to set the story-line up before anything big happens. I still haven't decided how long this story will be, but I'm trying for at least 10 chapters (possibly more if I can manage it). Stick with me, please. 3**


	3. Ch 3: Presents, the Past, and SelfImage

**AN: Again, Glee does not belong to me in any shape, form, or fashion - though if anyone wants to get it for me for my birthday in 6 days, I'll be more than happy to take it.  
Btw, I made a few changes to the last chapter, but nothing drastic. The only thing important that I changed was the party - it's no longer an office/firm party. Now, it's a Glee party hosted by Mr. Schue.**

"So what were you doing at the mall anyways?"

It was the following afternoon, and Puck and Rachel were curled up in her living room on the couch, with the T.V. blaring in the background. They were sitting on opposite ends of the couch, but Puck had one of his knees drawn up and his body was facing towards her while Rachel was curled on her side, her head propped on her arm staring at him.

Puck shrugged, his eyes focused on the basketball game on the widescreen television set. "I'unno," he muttered unconvincingly. When Rachel just stared at him in silence, he finally looked at her, taking in her raised eyebrow and the unbelieving tilt to her head. "Geez, Berry. I was trying to find presents for my mom and Daniella. Even though we're Jewish, we open presents on Christmas morning like everyone else, and – well, I don't have presents for them yet." Shrugging again, he sighed. "To tell the truth, I don't really know what I should get them. I spent an hour in that stupid toy store looking for something to get Daniella, but I still have no idea what she'd like."

Rachel shifted on the couch, edging closer towards him. "Maybe I could help. How old is Daniella?"

Puck flipped off the television with a sigh, realizing that Berry wasn't going to shut up so he could watch the game in peace. "She's 9, will be 10 at the end of February, but I have no idea what to get her. Don't girls her age all like Barbie dolls and shit like that?"

Rachel's lips quirked up in a smile. "A lot of them do, but not necessarily all of them. I did, but then again I was about as girly as a little girl could get. What's Daniella like?"

Puck laughed softly. "You _were_ about as girly as a girl could get? Berry, get real. You're still exactly the same way."

Rachel just shrugged, her brown eyes sparkling excitedly. "And? Now, tell me what your sister's like, and I'll help you figure out what to get her."

Puck nodded. "Okay, fine. She's the most annoying little brat in the world, but she's still a Puckerman, so she's a badass by default. She has a killer spiral with a football and can play just about any sport better than most of the guys. She's smart though. She reads a lot, and she makes good grades. And, she's good. Best daughter a mom could ever ask for."

Rachel smiled as she listened to Noah describe his sister with obvious pride, his gold-green eyes sparkling brightly. She was proud of herself even, when she only felt a little twinge of jealousy when Daniella was described as the "best daughter a mother could ask for." It was interesting though, to see how different Noah could be when he was away from all of the other jocks and the Cheerios, when he wasn't worried about his appearance or reputation.

Puck stopped abruptly when he realized that Berry was just staring at him, zoned out and not paying any attention to what he was saying. "Yo! Earth to Berry!" he called, waving a hand in front of her face.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Noah. I sorta spaced," she apologized, coloring prettily.

He shrugged, waving away the apology. "Nah, not a big deal. I was talking too much anyways – I was starting to sound way too much like you," he teased, nudging her with his shoulder.

She laughed, a pretty tinkling sound. "Noah! I could be very good influence on you if you'd let me. I have perfect attendance, all A's, every extra-curricular activity possible, as well as much influence with some of the older generation around Lima."

"And, you obviously don't have a self-esteem problem, do you, Midget?" Puck laughed, winking at her.

Rachel's face fell for a split second at his words, but she quickly recovered. "But, anyways," she smiled too brightly as she changed the subject, "I think I know the perfect gift for your sister, and possibly your mother too. What about a charm bracelet?"

Puck just stared, uncomprehendingly. "Isn't that just like a plain bracelet? Wouldn't that be sorta boring or impersonal or what the fuck ever? Like, I still want to get them something that actually means something."

Rachel sat up earnestly. "Oh no, not at all. Not unless that's what you make it. You can make it really personal and pretty if you put a little bit of thought into the charms. You said Daniella likes football and reading, right?" She paused until he nodded, unsure. "Well you can get her charms of a football and a book and whatever else you see that feels like it's right for her while you're there. Same for your mom's. All you have to do is make sure the charms actually mean something."

Puck nodded. "Ok, I think I can do that. You wanna come with?" he asked, standing up and shrugging into the jacket he had carelessly flung across the back of a chair.

"What, now?"

Puck shrugged. "Why not? No time like the present, right? Carp of the day or whatever that saying is? And what about you? You never did get that outfit you said your dad sent you for yesterday."

"It's Carpe Diem, Noah." Rachel laughed slightly before furrowing her brow. "And - well, no. I didn't find a dress or anything," Rachel murmured, unsure.

"Then what's the hold-up? We can kill two birds with one stone."

Rachel shrugged, uncertainly. "I'm really not certain that I want to go to Mr. Schue's Christmas party at all, Noah, and that's what the outfit would've been for. I figured, if I don't buy a new outfit, my dads can't make me go, right?"

Noah stared at her in surprise. "Why don't you want to go, Berry? I thought you'd be all up for that. I mean, it would give you a chance to sing for all of the Glee kids _and_ their parents. I thought you were always up for that shit, the spotlight and all."

Rachel just shrugged self-consciously. "I really just don't want to see Finn so soon," she muttered, wrapping her arms around herself in a defensive gesture.

Puck nodded slowly, suddenly understanding. "Berry – um, I mean, Rachel – what happened with ya'll anyways? Everything seemed fine one day and then Bam! All of a sudden, ya'll were broken up and Finn and Quinn were back together."

Rachel shrugged. "I don't really know. Finn just said that he still had feelings for Quinn that he couldn't get over and he broke up with me. Next thing I knew, they were back together."

"Ok," Puck nodded, processing everything. "What about Sam?"

Rachel just shrugged, not knowing what to say.

"Bet he was surprised." Mentally shaking himself, he glared at Rachel. "Berry, you are going to go to that party if I have to drag you there in sweats. So do you want to go get an outfit or not?"

Rachel stared at him, astounded by his earnestness. "Why does it matter to you, Noah?"

Puck shrugged. "I don't know. Does it matter that much? But, I'm not gonna let you miss out on something you love just cause Finn's a dickwad. Plus, I'm a badass, so if I'm taking you, you're sure as hell gonna look smoking."

"You're taking me?" Rachel cocked her eyebrow at him, waiting.

"Well, yeah." He grinned endearingly. "Come on, Rach, you know you want to." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Giggling, Rachel gave up the fight. "Ok, ok. I'll go. Give me a minute to change though."

"Why?" Puck asked, confused. He thought she looked fine in her jeans and t-shirt.

"Because I'm not going out in public like this. I haven't even done my makeup or my hair." Rachel turned and dashed up the stairs to her room. "I'll only be a minute! I promise!" she called back down the stairs.

Puck just rolled his eyes and flopped back onto the couch. _Might as well watch the game if Berry's gonna take forever to get ready,_ he thought to himself, flipping on the T.V.

Rachel was ready to go in 10 minutes.

*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.

Puck was really starting to regret making Rachel go shopping with him. "Shit, Berry. Are you done _yet_?" he called through the dressing room door again.

"No, Noah. Go on and get something to drink or something. I'm trying to pick the best dress."

Puck sighed. "Fine, whatever. Just text me or some shit when your done, 'k?"

"Ok," Rachel called back through the door, sending Puck on his way.

*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.

Santana stopped dead in her tracks when she heard Puck's voice. _What the hell is he doing at Macy's during the fucking Christmas break? Did he go and grow a vagina or something?_ She thought caustically.

As she eavesdropped longer, she found herself seeing red. _What the fuck is he doing with fucking RuPaul in the dressing room? His dumbass is probably screwing her. That's why he hasn't called me in 3 fucking days. Fucking asshole!_

She saw Puck walk away alone, but Santana waited until Rachel came out of the dressing room to make a move. The Jew was in a gorgeous strapless violet dress that hugged her slim curves and made her even more appealing as she twirled gracefully in front of the 3-way mirror in front of the dressing room.

"You look absolutely stunning, ma'am!"

The attendant's voice grated on Santana's already shot nerves. "You know she's paid to sell beautiful clothes to disgusting people like you who ruin them, right?"

The tiny brunette jumped as Santana's face suddenly appeared above her own in the mirror. "What do you want, Santana?" Rachel asked cautiously as she turned slowly to face the other brunette. "Other than to insult me, of course."

Santana smirked at Rachel's obviously false bravado. The tiny girl's eyes projected fear and hurt though her facial expression was carefully schooled into a neutral mask. "I just thought I'd offer some charity to the fashion challenged," Santana said sweetly. "That dress definitely makes you look fat." She paused significantly, a perfectly manicured hand thoughtfully pressed to her cheek. "Well, maybe that's not the dress."

The attendant's outraged gasp just made Santana's sadistic grin wider. "Oh, I'm sorry, Manhands. Did I hurt your feelings?"

Rachel's eyes had grown suspiciously bright at the Cheerio's cruelty, but she held her own. "At least I don't have to get a boob-job at 16 to be appealing, Lopez."

Santana's grin morphed into a cruel snarl as she hauled her arm back to strike the smaller girl. Rachel flinched and tried to turn away as the larger girl's clawed hand came towards her, but she knew her reflexes weren't good enough to get all the way out of the way. Hoping it wouldn't hurt too badly, Rachel clenched her eyes closed and waited.

And waited.

"What in the fucking hell do you think you're doing, Satan?"

Puck's voice penetrated Rachel's dark world with a sudden knowledge that she was safe. Opening her eyes, she found Santana snarling at Noah who had her arm pulled back behind her back.

"Let me go you fucking asshole!" The Cheerio didn't seem nearly as pretty with her face twisted into a mask of rage.

Puck calmly kept her restrained. "I'm going to. But, first, you're going to apologize to Rachel, and then you're going to walk away – without saying anything else."

"You son-of-a-bitch!" Santana was still glaring at him, but she had stopped struggling. "Fine. Sorry, RuPaul."

Puck just stared at the Cheerio, not releasing her.

"What? I fucking apologized. What more do you want?"

Puck raised his eyebrow. "That's not her name, Satan."

Santana grimaced. "Sorry, _**Rachel**_," she spit out the name distastefully. "There are you happy?"

Puck nodded and finally let her go.

Santana spun around, marching away from her two classmates and causing all the other shoppers to stare as she screamed back to them, "I hope you realize that if you ever fucking call me again, I'll cut your dick off, Puckerman!"

Puck just shrugged uncaringly before turning back towards Rachel. "Damn, Rach! You look fucking hot! That's definitely the dress."

The dressing room attendant smiled at him before clucking sympathetically into Rachel's ear and rushing her into the room to change out of the dress and calm down.

Puck scowled in the direction Santana had taken but knew he couldn't do anything else yet to stop the harassment Rachel received from his former friends and lover, but when she came out he rushed her directly to the cashier.

"Are you sure this dress is the one, Noah?" Rachel still looked pathetically close to crying.

"I'm sure, Rach." He awkwardly patted her shoulder to reassure her.

"Ok."

They didn't talk again until after they had stood in line and paid.

"I know that I was supposed to help you find your mom and sister bracelets, but can you just take me home?" Rachel scuffed her shoe across the ground self-consciously.

"Sure." Without thinking about it, Puck wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close as they trudged across the parking lot, silently offering her comfort and support.

The ride home was silent.

**AN: Ok, so I'm not really sure if I'm happy with how this chapter turned out, but let me know what ya'll think. It's ya'll's opinions that matter after all. There's more angst and some minor self-hurt in the next chapter or 2, so be fore-warned. Anyways - PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! I know people have been reading this and seem to like it because of all the story and author alerts it's been put on, but only 8 people have reviewed. To those who have reviewed (one reviewer posted on both chapters) thank you so much. Ya'll made me so very very happy. To everyone else, please review! Thank you 3 ~ Morgan**


	4. Chapter 4: Emotional Fallout

**AN: I still don't own Glee. :( I wish I did though. My birthday's on Friday - anyone want to give me Glee for a present?**

Puck got a soda, but he was still ready to just get the damn presents and get out of the fucking mall so he hurried back to Rachel's dressing room, completely prepared to ream her for taking so damn long. Going through what he was going to say in his mind, Puck didn't register the scene in front of the dressing room until he was in hearing distance.

_What the fuck?_ _Why the hell is Santana here?_ Puck hadn't seen the girl before he left, but he had been a little preoccupied with the little Jewish diva now arguing with her. As he listened to the argument, Puck's eyes narrowed with anger, but he decided to let Rachel handle it – he had never gotten into chick fights and didn't plan on starting now.

Rachel's comment about San's boob-job almost made Puck laugh out loud, but he'd been around the crazy bitch long enough to know exactly what her reaction would be. As the Cheerio pulled her arm back to strike the smaller girl, Puck moved faster than he ever did outside of the football field, easily immobilizing Santana.

"What in the fucking hell do you think you're doing, Satan?" Puck couldn't believe he was having to defend Rachel of all people from his crazy-ass ex, but it just felt right. Probably cause Berry was so fucking small. It just didn't seem right when someone beat up on someone that tiny.

"Let me go you fucking asshole!" Santana's eyes were wide and wild with rage and her mouth was twisted in a grimace so ugly that she had Puck wondering what the fuck he'd ever seen in her. Rachel was just as pretty in her face and not half as psychotic – though she definitely had a patent on her own brand of crazy.

Keeping Santana's arm firmly behind her back, Puck looked at her contemptuously. "I'm going to. But, first, you're going to apologize to Rachel, and then you're going to walk away – without saying anything else." He figured he'd better add that in before he had to regret not putting his hand over her mouth.

"You son-of-a-bitch!" Santana had stopped struggling, but Puck carefully kept his lower body away from any appendage she could hit or scratch him with. "Fine. Sorry, RuPaul."

Puck stared at her incredulously. _Seriously, what is with all the fucking Cheerios and their goddamn nicknames for people?_

"What? I fucking apologized. What more do you want?"

Puck raised his eyebrow. He knew Santana was a psychotic bitch from hell, but she was anything but stupid. "That's not her name, Satan."

Santana grimaced unattractively again. "Sorry, _**Rachel**_," she mocked. "There are you happy?"

Puck nodded, knowing that was the best he was going to get from her and let the bitch go.

Santana, true to her crazy-bitch self, had to cause a scene on her way out of the store. "I hope you realize that if you ever fucking call me again, I'll cut your dick off, Puckerman!"

Puck almost wanted to laugh at the threat, but he knew Santana was more than capable of taking away his manhood. Turning back to Rachel, he took a good look at the dress she had on for the first time since he'd gotten back. "Damn, Rach! You look fucking hot! That's definitely the dress." He knew that saying that made him a fucking pussy, but damn, how can you look at a pathetic Rachel and not want to make her feel better?

While Rachel changed and got calmed down by the dressing room attendant, Puck glared in the direction Santana had taken and planned for how he could fix Rachel's rep and protect her once school started until realizing that he'd made a conscious decision to protect Rachel Berry regularly – then he just scowled in general. Once she finally got out of there, he rushed her to the cashier, eager to get out of the store.

"Are you sure this dress is the one, Noah?"

As he saw how close Rachel was to tears, his protective instincts kicked in again, frustrating him. _I don't want to fucking protect Rachel Fucking Berry,_ he thought cruelly, but looking into her big, wet brown eyes, he just gave in. _Damn, but I'm gonna have my fucking work cut out for me once we go back to school. _

"I'm sure, Rach." He patted her shoulder, not knowing what else to do to make her feel better.

When all she said in answer was "ok," Puck knew he was in trouble. He didn't know what to do with a silent Rachel Berry, and she didn't speak again until after she'd paid.

"I know that I was supposed to help you find your mom and sister bracelets, but can you just take me home?" Puck felt momentary annoyance at her request, but looking closely at how she was curling into herself and scuffing the ground with her toe, he knew he couldn't drag her around more stores with him.

"Sure." He didn't even realize he had his arm around her until they were halfway across the parking lot, but he didn't remove it – he kind of liked how it felt to have someone need his support and comfort.

*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.

The ride home was silent.

Puck didn't know what the fuck he was supposed to do with a quiet Rachel Berry and just drove, not really thinking about anything other than getting her home while Rachel sat in silence, watching the scenery as it passed by.

Rachel was so close to tears, but she kept trying to hold them back. It wasn't fair of her to burden Noah with her problems. She could deal with them – after all, she had learned ways to deal with bullying from pre-school. She'd always been able to stand up for herself; it was just after the confrontation was over that she'd always had trouble controlling her emotions.

A sniffle threatened to break through her carefully constructed mask of control as they turned onto her street, and by the time Puck had pulled up to her house, Rachel was having a terrible time not bursting into tears. She actually wasn't sure that she could say anything without crying, but she also knew it would be immeasurably rude of her to just get out of the truck and walk away without thanking Noah for spending the day with her and for bringing her home.

"Thank you for being so gracious today, Noah. Feel free to come back at any time." Rachel had thought she'd been fairly convincing when she'd thanked him, but as she struggled to get the key into the deadlock of her front door, she heard the driver's door slam. Her hands were shaking so badly that she dropped the key. Rachel just stood there looking at the key and fighting her instinct to cry or run away until a hand reached in front of her and picked up the key, shoving it into the lock and turning the knob.

"Get in the damn house, Berry." Noah's voice was tired, as if he was sick of having to deal with her, and Rachel almost burst into tears just at the sound of it. Somehow though, she managed to stumble to her living room couch before tears silently began coursing down her cheeks.

She thought he had left when she heard the door slam, but the couch shifted as he sat down next to her. Rachel knew she should at least look at him since he was being so nice, but she couldn't lift her face from her hands as she continued to sob quietly.

Rachel heard him sigh, then all of a sudden, she was in his lap and he was pressing her face into his chest and whispering sweet nothings into her ear as he rubbed her back soothingly.

*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.

Puck didn't know what the fuck had happened. One moment, everything was fine, the next she was trying to say goodbye in a voice choked with tears.

He argued with himself before getting out of the truck, but his better side won. That seemed to happen often around Rachel. When she was around, it was as if there were two people in Noah Puckerman's body. There was Puck, of course, who seemed to be his rash, immature, mean side, and then there was Noah who was much kinder and more mature. Noah, for some reason, seemed to really like Rachel.

So, he found himself helping Rachel into her own house and then following her inside. And then, she had to start really crying. Now, Puck was a badass – anyone and everyone would tell you that. But, shit, what half-way decent man could deal with a crying gorgeous woman like Rachel Berry and actually know how to deal with it without turning out like a fucking pussy? So he pulled her onto his lap and was soothing her and – then he was just holding her.

For as much of a horn-dog as Puck naturally was, he was damn proud of himself for not trying to make a move on Rachel as she sat on his lap, pliant and quiet after exhausting herself with weeping. "Are you ok?" he finally asked, his left arm hooked over her legs, keeping her stable on his lap, and his right hand tracing patterns soothingly across her back.

Rachel sniffled against his shirt, but she nodded slowly. However, when he moved to set her gently back on the couch, her fingers wrapped themselves in his shirt and she whimpered slightly. "Can I – can you just hold me for a few minutes? Please, Noah?" Rachel's voice was hoarse and quiet, still choked off from how long she'd been crying, and Puck felt his heart do a strange little flip inside of his chest.

"Yeah, I guess that's ok." Moving to make them more comfortable on the couch, Puck took her with him when he stretched out, and Rachel ended up curled against his chest, her legs in between his and her face pressed to his shoulder. It didn't take long her to fall asleep, and Puck found himself staying still, afraid to wake her.

_What the fuck is wrong with me? My arm's fucking asleep, but I'm still not moving cause I don't want to wake her up? I'm turning into a fucking pansy, _he thought despairingly. He still didn't move.

*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.

Rachel woke from an exhausted, dreamless slumber to find her face pressed against Noah Puckerman's shoulder and his chin on the top of her head. Keeping completely still, she let her eyes adjust to the dim lighting of late afternoon in her living room and took stock of her surroundings as the day's events came flooding back to her.

She felt her cheeks heat up with the memories of how she had embarrassed herself with the boy she was currently laying on top of, but she still didn't move, afraid to disturb his rest. Glancing at the time on the mantle clock, she realized regretfully that at least one of her fathers should be on his way home. Trying to move without disturbing Noah, she slowly levered herself off her chest, but found her progress suddenly halted by a large warm hand pressed against her back.

"Are you feeling better, Berry?" Noah's eyes had yet to open, but the sexy little smirk on his face made Rachel wonder exactly how much he was enjoying her position on top of him.

"Much better." She nodded perkily in affirmation.

"Okay, good." Noah's eyes finally opened, revealing lazy gold-green eyes that surveyed her with much more consideration than she would have ever imagined Noah Puckerman showing her.

"Ummm- my fathers will be home before long," she muttered, attempting once again to lever herself off of his chest. His hand didn't move. Instead, the other joined it, drifting slightly lower than the first to rest on her lower back. Rachel's belly tightened as her nerve endings tingled from him stroking her back.

"Okay, and?" Puck teased, a true smile tugging at one corner of his mouth. He let the smile grow when she blushed hotly.

"And, even my very liberal parents will be shocked if they walk in the door to see me lying atop of some boy," she muttered back, not meeting his eyes.

"I guess that means we should get up then, huh? " he murmured, enjoying the way her body felt pressed against his.

"Yes, please," Rachel answered, still struggling to ignore the sensations his nearness was causing.

"Okay," he said, abruptly sitting up, taking her with him, then setting her on the other end of the couch.

Rachel stared at him, flabbergasted. "Well, okay then!" She got up, brushing the back of her short skirt off.

As she tried to walk past him, towards the kitchen, Puck grabbed her wrist and tugged her back towards him. "Rachel?" His tone was so serious that it made her heart skip as she nodded. "How often do things like this happen to you?"

Rachel stared at him, pain in her dark eyes. "Things like what? This?" She nodded towards him and the couch.

Puck growled lowly at her. "You know what I mean, Rachel."

Rachel nodded, her eyes falling to stare at the floor instead of meet his eyes. "A lot," she whispered.

Puck nodded. "Well next time, you're going to tell me, and I'm going to stop it, all right?" When Rachel didn't answer he grabbed her shoulders and shook her lightly. "All right?" he asked again.

Rachel nodded slowly. She began to turn away, but suddenly she blurted out, confused. "Why are you helping me, Noah? Why are you even being nice to me? What changed?"

Puck just shook his head and shrugged as he got up and walked slowly towards the door. Looking back he murmured lowly, "I don't know. I really don't know."

**AN: I've been totally overwhelmed by the amount of feedback I've recieved for this story, and I can't express how happy it makes me when I see that people have added me to their favorites or their alerts. The reviewers though are who make my day. It only takes a second, so please please please press the pretty button and leave me a review. **

**On another note, an anonymous reveiwer left review expressing concern over my phrasing of a description of Rachel in the last chapter. My calling Rachel "The Jew" was not meant to be a derogatory slur in any way. I however cannont apologize for it. In no way have I or will I ever support racial prejudice, but ignoring racial differences is not showing respect for any culture either. People's differences are what make them beautiful, and ignoring them causes more problems than it solves. My description of Rachel was meant to show how Santana, a Latina, and Rachel, a Jew, differentiated though they both are olive toned with dark hair and eyes. I hope I do not lose readers over this matter, but I cannot apologize for my feelings on this matter or for offending anyone by sticking to my convictions. **

**Thank you again for reading, and please stick with me. :) I'm nowhere near done with Rachel and Puck. (It may be a week or so until my next update though, so please forgive me if you get impatient.)**


	5. Ch 5: Coming to Terms & Breaking Down

**AN: I still do not own the lovely amazing show named Glee or any of the gorgeous talented characters and actors of the show...I didn't get it for my birthday. :( Oh well, there's always next year!**

Notice Me: Ch 5: Coming to Terms & Breaking Down

The next day, Rachel's schedule was full, just like it had been the rest of the holiday vacation, but for the first time, Rachel didn't want to deal with all the stress and worry and frustration of all of her responsibilities. What she wanted was to ditch and go spend time with the boy who was even now standing on her front porch.

"Come on, Berry. You need to learn to have some fun." Puck was looking extremely attractive in his tight black t-shirt and blue jeans, but Rachel refused to allow her hormones to tempt her.

"And I assume your idea of fun would be to go with you to the mall and help you pick out bracelets?" Rachel's eyebrow quirked knowingly.

Puck grimaced, caught red-handed. "Well, that wouldn't be the only thing we did-" He trailed off sheepishly, running a hand through his Mohawk.

Rachel giggled and continued locking her front door. Turning towards him, she smiled. "Noah, I will not skip out on my practices and community service today though I would definitely like to help you." She sighed when his face fell. "Can you meet me around-" She did some quick calculations in her head then continued, "5 p.m.?"

Noah's relieved smile ignited a warm glow low in Rachel's stomach, a glow that slowly worked its way up her body, showing in the dark blush that graced her cheeks. "Sure! As long as you're gonna help me find those gifts, I'll meet whenever, wherever."

Rachel smiled at him brightly as the blush worked its way even higher, her ears turning red. "Okay, I'll see you then."

"Okay." His low voice echoed throughout her mind for hours after she'd left him.

*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.

Puck didn't know exactly how it had happened, but somehow he found himself on Rachel's front porch bright and early the next morning, practically begging her to take pity on him and go shopping again. At first he thought she was going to completely refuse, but when she agreed to meet him later, he felt excitement growing deep in the pit of his stomach. He kept telling himself that he was only happy that she was going to help him find those bracelets for his mother and sister, but the words sounded false even to his own ears.

As he watched her pull away from the curb in her ridiculous little Volkswagen Bug, he tried to think of something that would be fun to do to kill time while waiting on Berry, but he couldn't seem to think of anything that didn't include her. Growing annoyed with himself, Puck jumped in his truck and screeched out of the driveway, driving recklessly in the opposite direction from Rachel.

He drove around for hours, completely clueless as to where he wanted to go. At some point, it had started to rain torrentially. He kept driving until it was impossible to see more than 2 feet in front of the truck's nose, then he pulled over and just sat. Slumping over the wheel, he decided to give himself a firm talking-to.

"Puckzilla, man, you're the fucking badass, so why are you getting all moony-eyed over some crazy chick like Berry?" The question sounded forced in the enclosed space, and he couldn't find an answer to it. "Dude, you could have any chick you wanted. Hell, you could probably even get Santana back if you tried hard enough."

Pressing his forehead against the steering wheel, he sighed. "You don't want Santana though." He closed his eyes tightly before finally admitting to himself the real reason he was so protective of the tiny Jewish diva he'd been defending recently. "You like _her._"

Admitting his feelings out loud did nothing to make Puck feel better. He'd never been the type to admit feelings until he dealt with losing both Quinn and Beth, and he was still extremely uncomfortable with admitting any type of weakness. If anything, he just became more anxious as the words repeated in his head. _'I like her.'_ Starting the truck again, he pulled out of the parking lot and slowly headed towards the only place he knew to go.

*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.

Finn didn't know what the hell had happened, but Puck was standing at his front door dripping wet and looking for all the world as if his pet had just died. "Dude, what's wrong with you?" He dragged his sometimes best friend through the door and out of the rain. "Is everything all right?"

Puck laughed, half-hysterically. "No, definitely not," he choked out, running a hand through his Mohawk and gripping it tightly.

"What's going on, man?" Finn had grown up with Puck, but the only times he had ever seen the other boy this torn up were after his father left and after Beth was born and adopted.

"I don't know. I just don't know." Puck collapsed onto the Hudsons' couch, his head falling into his hands. "I don't know what I see in her."

Finn's eyes grew wide. _Puck's this upset over a girl? _he thought incredulously. Sitting gingerly next to his best friend, he gently placed a hand on the shorter boy's shoulder. "Come on, Puck. Tell me what happened." This was apparently the wrong thing to do because Puck shot up off the couch and began pacing manically.

"I don't know what the fuck happened. One minute, everything was normal – I hated her, and she hated me. Everything was how it was supposed to be, but then –" He stopped and looked Finn straight in the eye for the first time since he'd gotten there, his gold-green eyes wide and burning with a feverish light. "Tell me I'm just imagining it. Tell me that I didn't fall in love with Rachel Fucking Berry," he begged.

Finn didn't know what to say. Sure, he had heard the rumors Santana had started, but he hadn't really believed them – Puck and Rachel? That would never happen. But, apparently it had.

"Dude, just calm down. I don't know. Do you want a beer or something?" Finn suggested, not sure how else to deal with this situation.

Puck deflated, collapsing back onto the couch and leaning his head back against the couch. "Yeah, sounds good. Let's get drunk."

Finn just nodded. It sounded like a good idea to him.

*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.

Rachel glared at her phone as it repeated the same message for the 10th time in as many minutes. "Yo! It's the Puckster. You know what to do." He had practically begged her to meet up with him, and now he wasn't answering texts or calls, and it was almost an hour past the time she had given him to meet her. What was up with that?

Throwing her phone into the backseat of her car, Rachel threw her car into gear and drove to her safe haven.

Walking through the halls of McKinley during break was akin to walking through a ghost town. The deserted halls echoed with the sound of her footsteps, but other than that, remained eerily silent. As she reached the choir room, Rachel found her shoulders loosening, tension draining from her like water as she reached her safe place.

Pushing the door open carefully, she flipped on a light and set some music to play, then closed her eyes, allowing the song to take away all her pain and anger as she drifted on the strains of music.

*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.

Santana paused, pulling Brittany to a stop. "What's wrong, San?" asked the pretty blonde, tilting her head in question. The Latin Cheerio shrugged, gesturing silently for the other girl to be quiet as she listened intently. A sadistic smile stretched across her full, glossy lips as she again heard the echoes of a haunting familiar voice from an equally familiar hallway.

Quickly convincing her sweet but dim best friend to meet her in the parking lot in a few minutes, Santana crept down the hallway towards the choir room silently. Cracking the door open, she smirked wider as soon as she saw that Berry was alone.

*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.

"You know he'll never want you for anything more than a quick lay."

Rachel jumped, an unbecoming squeak tearing from her lips at the unexpected interruption. Turning quickly, she grimaced slightly as she took in the unwelcome Cheerio. "What on earth are you talking about, Santana?"

The taller girl smirked widely, her eyes narrowing maliciously. "Have you given it up yet? Your V-card? That's all he wants from you, and once you give it up, he'll be gone quicker than you can blink." She snapped, demonstrating.

Rachel's eyes widened as she realized what the scorned girl was talking about. "You're wrong," she stated with conviction. "Noah hasn't even tried to kiss me, much less do anything else."

Santana's eyes widened slightly but she quickly tempered her argument, forcing her face into a mask of compassion. "But, he has comforted you and protected you, right?" She paused, waiting until Rachel haltingly nodded. "What do you think he did before he talked Q into sleeping with him?" she softly whispered.

"No." This denial was much less convincing than her earlier one.

The look on Rachel's face almost made Santana laugh in satisfaction, but she kept up the charade. "He'll do the same thing to you," she promised, reaching forward to pat the other girl's shoulder consolingly. "You should run away from him before he gets the chance."

Rachel brokenly stared as the other girl walked away, quietly shutting the door behind her. Glancing unseeingly around the room, she sank to the floor, motionless and tearless as she built back up the walls she had been letting Puck tear down.

*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.*~.

Rachel ran on automatic all the way home and through her house up to her bedroom, even smiling and laughing with her Jewish father, Hiram, but as she walked through her room and saw how childish and immature her room was, she snapped, tearing the girly pink bedclothes off her mattress and throwing her stuffed animals unceremoniously into a corner.

Slipping into her bathroom, she took off all her clothes and stared at the girl in the mirror. Grimacing she outlined the reflection in magic marker, writing horrible things and drawing arrows towards the figure. _Fat! Bignose. Ugly. Manhands. Disgusting. Untalented._ The words kept coming as she glared at her own reflection in hate.

Finally she sank to the floor. Pulling open a drawer, she grabbed the razor from inside it, and stared at it.

Hearing all the horrible things that had been said to her repeat in her head, she experimentally dragged the blade across her ribs. The pain was dull at first, but as she continued, one cut for each nasty comment she remembered, it became sharper and she slowly felt more and more relief as if the blood was washing the hurtful words away. Kurt's, Mercedes', Quinn's, Santana's, Karofsky's, Finn's, even Puck's voices mixed with a multitude of others all repeated slurs and curses to her, reminding her that she could never be beautiful enough, smart enough, or talented enough to amount to anything.

Finally, she let the blade fall to the floor, curling into a ball as quiet tears finally came to her. Much later, she drifted to sleep, still naked and covered in blood on the cold tile floor.

**AN: Ok guys, I know I said a week, but between my birthday (I'm finally 18!) and Thanksgiving, my life's been insane. I didn't really have time to write this tonight even, but because of school and work, I knew there was no way I'd be able to update if I didn't get it done tonight, so here you go. Please forgive me if it wasn't my best. I'm not totally sure how I feel about it. This is the way I'd always planned the story to go, but it was hard for me to make Rachel's self-hurt scene to flow correctly. I do hope you like it however. Also, the self-hate mirror idea was from another fanfiction, and it just seemed to fit so well in this story that I couldn't pass it up. I can't remember which story it came from, but if you wrote it and do not wish me to use it, let me know. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy the story.**

**I would also like to mention how ecstatic I am about the outporing of love and appreciation I've felt from my readers. I can't believe how well ya'll like this story, and I was unbelievably touched by the multiple reviewers who told me that they understood what I had meant in chapter 3 and were not offended by it. Thank you all for the birthday wishes as well - it was unbelievable! Thank you so much for your continued support, and don't forget to press the pretty little button and review! **

**P.S. I try to answer each review personally, but I recently just haven't had the time. I will definitely try to get to all of you soon though. Thank you again.**


	6. Chapter 6: Moving Forward

Notice Me: Ch 6: Moving Forward

**AN: **So, I'm back guys! Sorry it's been so long. My life has been...well, to say the least, it's been stressful the last 6 months. I'm hoping to get back into updating every few weeks at least though. I like this chapter fairly well even though it's me just getting back into writing so I'm sure it's not my best. I hope you enjoy it. :)

And, as always, I do not own Glee...except in my own little twisted fantasies. lol

It took Rachel a few hours to finally move from the bathroom floor. Her fathers had been home for a while, she knew, as she could hear them moving around downstairs. One of them had knocked on her door earlier, but when she hadn't answered, he had gone away, apparently assuming she was busy. Moving carefully so as not to make the wounds on her ribs start bleeding again, she stood and reached into the shower, turning the hot water on full blast. Pausing to grab a towel from under her sink, she stepped into the tub and turned her face up to the cleansing blast, letting the water wash away everything from that day, the dried blood and dirt as well as all the pain, all the guilt, and all the misplaced hope she had placed in one Noah Puckerman.

~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*

"Ughhh." Puck groaned as sunlight from the open window penetrated his brain through the alcohol induced haze he had drunk himself to last night. Throwing an arm over his eyes, he attempted to roll over but was halted by a small foot on his hip.

"Oh no, Noah Puckerman. There is no way you're sleeping in today after the stunts you and my son pulled last night." Mrs. Hummel leaned over him, pulling his arm away from his face. "Get up. You and Finn are shoveling the sidewalks for us – with no sunglasses," she added with a little bit too much relish. She moved away from Puck, stalking over to her son's prone form on his bed, muttering about "teaching the two of them a nice, firm lesson about underage drinking."

Puck groaned but rolled to his feet, pulling his tee on from where it had ended up thrown on Finn's floor sometime last night. Knowing he wasn't going to get out of the work, Puck attempted to grin charmingly at Mrs. Hummel, though it came out as more of a grimace as rays of sunlight continued their assault on his oversensitive eyes. "Can we at least get some coffee, please?"

Rolling her eyes at his antics, the woman who was like a second mother to him stalked to the door. "Fine, but only if you both are downstairs within ten minutes," she said, glancing pointedly at her still snoring son. "Have fun getting him up."

Puck got his coffee.

~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*.~*

Rachel rolled out of bed the next morning and went down to breakfast with her fathers as per usual, ignoring the fleeting stab of pain across her torso when she was working out on her elliptical after her fathers left for work. She spent the morning going through the motions as she followed her crazily organized schedule, taking elderly citizens cookies, teaching children how to play the piano, and all together being her typical goody-two-shoes self. It wasn't until lunch that she allowed herself to check her phone to see if she'd missed any text messages. There were ten, but none from the one person she had most wanted to hear from.

With a sigh, she silently berated herself for thinking about him when he so obviously wasn't doing the same and returned the texts from her fathers, Kurt, and Mercedes, but deleting the one from Finn without even opening it, unknowing that it would have saved her a lot of heartache just to read it.

Returning to her house to make herself a completely vegan lunch, she was surprised to see Puck's truck in her driveway as well as the man himself slaving away shoveling snow off the front walkway.

Ignoring him, she parked her car and made her way carefully around him and up to the front door.

"Seriously, Berry? You're just going to ignore me?" His low baritone voice cut the silence, and she turned towards him slowly, not sure how to respond.

"What do you want me to say, Noah?" she asked quietly, keeping her eyes determinedly focused somewhere above his left shoulder.

He sighed, thrusting a hand through his Mohawk in frustration. "I don't know. I just – yell at me or something!" Thrusting his hands into his jean pockets, he went on in a much lower voice. "I'm sorry I didn't come over yesterday. Some things came up, and I just-" he trailed off, looking at her imploringly.

Rachel hadn't planned on becoming angry. When he first got there, she was hurt and trying to stay away from him to keep from showing him exactly how hurt she was, but now? Now, she was absolutely furious. "You just what, Noah? Just couldn't text me or call me? Just were completely inconsiderate to me? Just hurt me?" She gasped and threw a hand to her mouth as if that could recall the last words from her lips. Her bright brown eyes beginning to fill with tears, she quickly turned, trying to retreat up the stairs and into her house, but Puck wasn't about to let her run away from him.

"Oh no you don't," he growled, sprinting across the frozen lawn and intercepting her just as she turned the key in the lock. Grabbing her hand, he spun her back around to face him, feeling a twinge of regret at the lone tear streaking down her face.

"Look, Rachel. I'm sorry. There's not much else I can say other than that, but it is the truth." Rachel had her eyes scrunched tightly closed and her lips were clenched tightly together, but the corner of her mouth was trembling, evidence of how hard she was trying to not break down completely. Groaning with frustration, Puck threaded his fingers through hers and pinned both of her hands next to her head. Leaning to press his forehead against hers, he murmured softly, "Rachel, look at me – please?"

Rachel shook her head, almost imperceptibly as she struggled to keep her composure, but when he repeated the request even more plaintively, her eyes opened of their own accord, a few tears leaking from the corners.

The pained look on Rachel's face made Puck almost flinch away from her, but her tear-filled gaze drew him towards her in the same instance. "Why?"

The one word drew Puck's gaze to her full mouth, and suddenly his own went dry. "I – shit, Rach. I don't have an excuse. I just couldn't come yesterday."

"I see." She looked away from him, attempting to put some distance between them, if not physically – since he had her pinned against the door and obviously wasn't moving – then at least emotionally.

"No you don't," he murmured, releasing one of her hands so that he could pick her chin up with one finger. "It wasn't anything you did, Rachel. This one was all me. I messed up."

Arching one perfectly sculpted eyebrow, Rachel let one tearful laugh escape before she could choke out a reply. "That's a new one."

Puck still refused to release her face as he gazed at her intently, his gold-green eyes intense. "I swear, Rachel. You did absolutely nothing wrong."

He saw a spark of hope flair in her eyes as she sniffled tearfully. "You promise?"

"I promise."

Such relief shone in her gaze that Puck could literally feel the weight lift from his own shoulders as well as hers. "Okay," she agreed simply.

"Okay," he agreed quietly before moving forward to embrace her gently, pressing his lips to her forehead in a gentle kiss. After relishing the unique feeling of holding her petite form in his arms for a long moment, he released her and opened the door for her, pushing her gently inside. "Go warm up. I'll finish shoveling the sidewalk and be in in a moment."

Nodding her acceptance, Rachel wandered inside then proceeded to watch him as he strode away and went back to the chore, one small hand brushing aside her bangs where she had felt his lips press against her forehead in a chaste kiss.

**AN: **Thanks as always for your love and support everybody! Please press the shiny button and leave a review now. :D


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